To Catch a Tiger
by Ami DragonHeart
Summary: Kotetsu's tended his resignation but before he can explain the situation to Barnaby, everything goes wrong. Can Tiger fix things or will Bunny hate him forever? Warning: May contain Lemonaide. Tiger x Barnaby  of course


Okay...do not own so do not sue...no matter how much I wish I could play with Tiger & Bunny (and punch Maverick in the face)

Amber eyes gazed into their reflected image in the mirror as tanned hands gripped an ivory basin. Another wave of water splashed a weary face dampening already wet brown hair, tired lips letting out a small sigh. _How had this happened? Why couldn't he keep his body under control? Why did he have to do that?_ The brunette was pretty sure that his actions had managed to completely destroy everything he'd worked so hard for. It'd taken him months to get to where he was and one stupid slip-up and all that work had been kicked out the window. The brunette hung his head wondering how everything went wrong.

_A green-eyed man walked beside the brunette, his blonde curls bouncing slightly with every step, before halting to fix the brunette with a piercing gaze. "Kotetsu," the blonde sighed, "What's wrong?" Kotetsu stopped beside the blonde wondering how to convey his thoughts without stepping on his partner's toes. "I just," Kotetsu began, "I just don't see the point to all this Bunny." The brunette ignored the blonde's seemly automatic correction of 'Barnaby'. "I mean whenever it's quiet enough for us to actually have a day to ourselves," the brunette continued, "Agnes decides to schedule a 'bonding day' instead. So we end up wasting a perfectly good day being followed by cameras, reading off scripts pre-written by Agnes and being mobbed by our fans. Well...your fans." Barnaby's lips twitched into a slight smirk during his partner's tirade. It was no secret that Barnaby's horde of fans and 'Wild Tiger's' lack-there-of was a slight sore spot for the veteran Hero, but he generally bore it well preferring to make snide quips about the blonde's 'pretty looks'. "You've just come back from a week with your family," Barnaby replied evenly, his professional tone not quite masking the smile in his voice, "Hero TV wants to show the people that we're still partners and that you haven't mysteriously disappeared or died."_

_The brunette sighed running a hand down his face, he had wanted to spend their down-time together for an entirely different reason. The veteran Hero's powers were waning, and each time he accessed them he could feel the steady decline. After slowly sinking into his own little pool of despair, Kotetsu had left to spend a week with his family which had been possibly the best thing he could've done. Chasing around after Kaede gave him a new purpose, a new dream. While it was true he probably couldn't continue on as a Hero for much longer, he could still be his daughter's personal hero and that meant more to him than anything Sternbuild could offer. Well...almost anything._

_Kotetsu stared into the bright green eyes of his partner...no, his friend, because they had become friends during their tenure as partners, and knew he would miss the intelligent blonde and his snarky quips. They hadn't always been so close, but the brunette had poked and prodded Barnaby's prickly defences until he'd managed to worm his way inside his icy exterior and discovered the real Barnaby, forging himself a solid bond in the process. Kotetsu would never tell Bunny exactly how much that bond meant to him, he didn't even know enough words to convey the message or do it justice, but that bond was the reason behind wanting a day for just the two of them._

_Fading powers made Kotetsu a walking liability and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if his stubborn refusal to accept the inevitable caused Barnaby an injury. The blonde had already had a hard life and suffered more than anyone should have to bare and Kotetsu couldn't bring himself to add another scar to the young man's life. He'd handed his resignation into Mr Lloyds earlier that morning, asking him to keep the news quiet until he'd had a chance to tell Barnaby. Mr Lloyds had agreed that the news would be better coming from Kotetsu's own lips rather than someone else's so Kotetsu had three days before Apollon Media informed the other Heroes that there would be one less candidate in the points syndicate. Of course, all plans to sit down and discuss the situation with his partner had shattered the moment Agnes walked through the door with her camera crew._

_Tired orbs met glistening green. "Don't you just wish we could do things without the peanut gallery?" Kotetsu asked his thumb jerking over his shoulder at the camera crew, "You know just you, me and maybe a theme park or something?" Barnaby's eyes softened, a true smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he stared at the man who'd claimed the title of 'best friend'. It was and never would be about fans or popularity for Kotetsu, he just didn't care about stuff like that. The brunette genuinely cared about the people and just wanted to make a difference, no matter how small that difference was. It was that inherent goodness that had endeared him to Barnaby in the first place, that un-dying need to help someone even when they insisted they didn't need it. He would know, Kotetsu had determinedly chipped away at barriers he thought no one could penetrate and found the broken little boy within, slowly helping him pick the pieces up and put them back together. The excitable Tiger had steam-rolled his way into the blonde's life, pawed away at a claim on a little piece of his heart and then curled up to go to sleep in that spot and Barnaby hoped he stayed there forever._

"_Why don't we head to one last spot, and finish up early for the day?" Barnaby relented, "We can have a fan-free movie night at my place." The blonde smiled at Kotetsu's shock. Bunny was a text-book work-a-holic and the brunette could count on one hand the number of times he'd clocked out early, but still the idea of having a quiet night in would give him the chance to talk about his resignation. "I'll even let you pick the movies," the blonde added thinking his partner might need an extra incentive, "But I get to order dinner. I can't trust you not to add a cup of mayonnaise to my meal." Kotetsu grinned, his love of mayonnaise was legendary amongst the Heroes, but as yet Barnaby had yet to experience it, not that Kotetsu would sabotage his food by adding the creamy treat, even if he did feel the blonde was missing out by not having it. "Sure thing Bunny," the older man replied, "I've heard some great reviews about this movie with these cowboys and this bunch of aliens..." Emerald eyes blinked owlishly at the veteran Hero as if not quite daring to believe the words flowing from his mouth. "A movie," Barnaby replied, "About cowboys," earning a nod from Kotetsu, "and aliens," gaining yet another nod, "I'll...reserve judgement until after the movie." The brunette beamed at his partner. A year ago he would've never been able to convince the blonde to watch a movie like that with him, now it seemed Bunny was willing to suffer a potentially bad plot with sub-standard special effects just to spend time with him. "That's the spirit Bunny," Kotetsu cried, wrapping one arm around the blonde's shoulders as they stalked off to the next location, both Heroes smiling, content to enjoy their companionship._

Kotetsu stared at the haunted eyes blinking back at him. They never got the chance to see their movie, heck they didn't even make it to their next location. A fist collided with the mirror, the fractured glass reflecting a distorted look of anguish. He was such a fool, if only he'd managed to keep his body under control...but it was too late. There would never be a fumbled speech about his resignation, there would never be the companionable silence of shared movies or witty banter over dinner and a delicate rosé, those moments were long gone and all that was left behind were the memories of what was lost.

_Kotetsu leant against the wall beside an alley, head rolling back to rest on the crumbling bricks as Barnaby stood a few feet away greeting his fans with his usual charming but emotionless smile. As the older veteran had predicted the blonde couldn't go anywhere without at least a small handful of adoring fans stopping him leaving the brunette to his own devices and bored out of his mind. It wasn't like Kotetsu begrudged Barnaby his fans, he just detested being cast aside and forced to watch the blonde plaster a fake smile manufactured for the sole purpose of maintaining emotional detachment while still looking incredibly attractive. As much as the other Heroes liked to tease him Kotetsu wasn't completely oblivious, he knew his partner was a walking Adonis with his gilt hair and sparkling eyes, not to mention he'd seen the blonde in their tight leather body suits and knew exactly how well-defined those muscles were but there would always be times, like today, when he wished he had someone less appealing as his partner._

_Barnaby cast a quick glance behind him to see how his partner was holding up. As usual, the older man was playing it cool by pretending he didn't care about the fans surrounding the blonde. He'd never regretted becoming a Hero or showing the world his real face, except for moments like this. Barnaby had become a Hero to find his parents murderer and bring them to justice, a goal he'd finally managed to achieve, but he knew he would've never managed it without the help and support of the man standing a few feet away and it hurt to see such a pillar of strength and justice be shunted to the side for a 'prettier model' especially since that model was himself. Still he owed it to his fans and to his sponsors to maintain his professionalism and treat them with respect, and if he managed to slyly talk a child or two into giving his dejected partner a hug then he saw no harm in that._

_Amber eyes trained their gaze on his partner once more, a few of the gigglier girls had managed to dig cameras out of their voluminous handbags and were applying an extra coat of lipstick before palming off the digital devices to friends so they could get a photo with their Hero. A foot bounced nervously making Kotetsu avert his gaze to the offending limb, he didn't know why he was so agitated by Bunny's fans today. Maybe it was his resignation looming in the air, maybe it was his declining abilities finally wearing his nerves thin, or maybe it was the fact that with each photo being taken the girls seemed to get bolder, each one trying to out-do the others in a game of who could grip Bunny the tightest. It wasn't until one girl stepped up for her turn, her low neckline revealing her rather ample cleavage nestled herself into Barnaby's side, head resting on his shoulder hiding the hand slowly sliding down his back until she could grab a firm hold of the blonde's sculpted derriere that the veteran finally snapped._

_The older Hero's body shifted into action ripping the startled blonde away from the red-head with a warning growl ripping from his lips before shoving his partner into the protective shadows of the alley. Kotetsu pressed the younger man into the cold bricks, his mouth slamming down over stunned pink lips with an animalistic need to dominate. It only took a second before Barnaby began to match the lips and tongue duelling with his own, fingers clutching at his partner's trademark white vest as his hips shifted against the warm heat pinning them to the wall. Amber eyes met green and suddenly the heat was gone leaving Barnaby to stare at the man trying to disappear through the bricks of the opposite wall. Kotetsu tried to piece together what had happened, one moment he'd been leaning against the wall, the next he'd been attempting to see how far he could get his tongue down Bunny's throat. "I..." Kotetsu stuttered, "I...have to go." Emerald eyes watched the brunette disappear wondering why his departure stirred such a feeling of loss, one hand pressed to his throbbing lips the other clutched a heaving chest._

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_. Kotetsu fought the urge to smack his head against the wall, he'd already broken the mirror he didn't need to damage a wall as well. Shaking his head, the brunette slid down to the floor, the cold, white tiles numbing his skin through his pants. Even if the kiss had put a dampener on their friendship, the situation could've been salvaged...possibly, maybe with a lot of stammering, fumbling and a fair share of grovelling on his part but then Kotetsu never had been good at keeping his foot from leaping into his mouth. It was what happened next that sealed his fate, if only he could take a step back in time and prevent those foolish words from ever leaving his mouth.

_Barnaby paced in front of a door one hand still touching his lips while he tried to decide whether or not to knock. Each time his pale hand raised fingers curling into a fist poised to tap the wood, he hesitated uncertainly before dropping it back to his side. His heart had been hammering in his chest ever since that kiss and now he wanted answers. Was it merely a gesture to send a message to his over-eager fans, was Kotetsu experimenting with him or were there feelings attached? And if an emotional drive was the cause, did Barnaby want to follow where it could potentially lead. The blonde wasn't sure if he wanted to do it again, not that it was unpleasant because Kotetsu's lips had been more than inviting, but he didn't know if it was his partner's lips he wanted against his own. A nervous tongue darted out to lick his lower lip as he gathered the courage to beat his fist against the door. If he didn't knock now he'd lose the courage to try again later. Perplexed, Barnaby rolled his tongue around inside his mouth as he waited for Kotetsu to answer. He could still taste the slight zing of electricity the brunette had left behind._

_Kotetsu's face appeared in the gap between the door and the doorframe, the brunette nodding solemnly before stalking away leaving the door open for the green-eyed man. "I figured you'd come around eventually," the older man commented as moved to the lounge leaving Barnaby to follow, "It was just a matter of when." The blonde nodded, of course his partner knew he'd be by for answers, they'd worked together long enough to know each other's habits and nuances, just like he knew the brunette had been hoping he'd drop the matter and be done with it. "I know what you're going to ask," Kotetsu told him as he flopped down onto the couch nursing a beer, the blonde noted the second beer already waiting for him on the table as he perched on the other chair, "But the truth is I don't know why." The beer bottle halted on its way to Barnaby's mouth his eyebrows knitting together as he placed the bottle back on the table. "What do you mean you don't know?" the younger man inquired a slight tremor slipping into his voice, "You did it, how could you not know the reason behind your own actions?"_

_The veteran Hero gulped as Bunny's tongue flicked out nervously to re-wet his pink lips. Amber eyed couldn't seem to tear themselves away from those delicious torture devices. He could still taste the subtle hint of strawberries and something uniquely Bunny and watching his partner nervously nibbling them just made him want another taste. Kotetsu flung himself out of the chair and over to the window in an attempt to drive such thoughts away because that could never happen again. It wasn't that the kiss was bad, on the contrary it seemed Barnaby was quite skilled in that department, but the fact remained that in two days time his lease would run out and he'd already be at his mother's un-loading the belongings he'd already sent. His apartment already looked bare, the majority of his possessions already boxed and shoved on the back of a removalist bound for Oriental Town. Only the bare essentials and a few personal items still remained leaving the place feeling far more empty than it had ever been, although still not quite as Spartan as his partner's apartment. The few remaining items would be packed up that night for him to take with him when he made the drive home._

_He remained staring out the window even after he heard Barnaby calling his name, prompting him to continue. He wished he could verbalise all the emotions swirling in his head but every time he tried his throat constricted around his tongue. How was he meant to tell Bunny that he didn't know what drove him to do it and want to do it again, but that he would never see him again after tonight. He could always tell him he'd visit Sternbuild in the future but those visits would be sporadic at best and potentially non-existent. No, waiting around for a day here, a phone call there, Bunny deserved more than that. He deserved better. Kotetsu knew what he had to do, he just didn't know if he'd have the strength to do it._

"_Look," Kotetsu finally responded, "Just forget it ever happened." Barnaby stared at him, not quite daring to believe what he was hearing. "What?" the blonde demanded. He'd come here for answers, not to be fobbed off or sweep it under the rug. "You heard me," the brunette replied stalking over to the young blonde, "What happened, it was a mistake alright? It shouldn't have happened and it's never going to happen again so just forget it did and move on." Green eyes searched Kotetsu's tanned face looking for something, anything that could make sense of the words flowing from the older man's lips. Amber eyes caught a glimpse of a torn little boy before Barnaby's impassive mask shifted into place, the cold edge creeping into those deep green eyes making Kotetsu shiver. "Fine," the blonde bit out not even bothering to hide his disgust before turning to the door. "Bunny" Kotetsu began, reaching out to catch his partner's arm in an attempt to at least end on good terms only to have the blonde use the momentum to swing his body around, his pale fist slamming into the older man's face. "My name is Barnaby," Barnaby spat as he stormed out the door. Kotetsu could barely feel the pain blossoming over his face over the gaping wound in his chest the blonde had left behind. The packing could wait one more day, for now he needed something to help him ease the aching in his chest. Reaching for the nearest bottle the brunette willed himself into oblivion._

A hand clasped around a bag, throwing the strap over his shoulder before grabbing one final box and walking out the door. Keys were left at the front desk and the final pieces safely stowed in the boot of his car. Turning back to look at the building he'd once called home, his eyes instinctively turned in the direction he knew the blonde's apartment lay. A lone tear dripped from dead eyes before a hand swiped it away, carefully avoiding a tender nose. There was nothing left for him here, his big mouth had made sure of that. Turning the key in the ignition Kotetsu took one last look before gunning the engine, refusing to glance in the rear view mirror until he was well and truly out of the city.

Comments and reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated so let me know if you want me to continue with this one!

May your thoughts and creativity flow

-Lady Ami DragonHeart


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